The present invention relates to watercraft mooring and, more particularly, apparatus for securing mooring or anchoring ropes to prevent entanglement with a motor, propellers, or other structural members of the watercraft.
When mooring a watercraft, such as to a pier, dock, or anchoring, the watercraft is typically provided with cleats and other tie points for securing the mooring ropes to the watercraft. However, because the cleats are attached close to a surface of the watercraft, the ropes have a tendency to become entangled with a structural members and components of the boat as well as an outboard motor and propeller of the watercraft.
Moreover, given their close proximity to the surface of the watercraft, the ropes will lie across the painted surfaces of the watercraft. In this condition, the repeated movement of the watercraft on the waves of the water surface will have a tendency to mar the painted surfaces due to the repeated frictional contact of the ropes with the painted surfaces.
As can be seen, there is a need for an improved apparatus that can captively retain mooring ropes at an elevated position relative to the watercraft to avoid entanglement of the mooring ropes with the structural members and to prevent marring of the painted surfaces.